The 5k

This morning we walked a 5k at the local community college. When I say we, I mean: me, H, G, J, our friend K, and her son JJ. It was an interesting morning, but worth every second. Let me tell you, 4 children 3 and under make things interesting!!! We had a lot of fun. We were the last ones in, but everyone who was working was so sweet to make sure we knew where to go. The best part was finishing. As we walked into the football stadium (this makes it sound HUGE, but it wasn't), the staff cheered and gave H and JJ high fives. As we were leaving, JJ told K he wanted to do it again.

It felt SO good to finish, and I agree with JJ - I want to do this again.

The tricycle H and JJ took turns with.

G and J - they did so well in their strollers.

JJ walking

The "team" for this 5k.

Wrestling fun after we were done because there's always more energy with boys.

G and J getting in on the wrestling action.

Embrace the Camera

What an interesting week. I've gone to watching 5 kids (3 of my own) for a few days a week to help out my brother-in-law and his wife. It's been great fun because H now has someone his age to play with; our nephew, SG, is about a year older. This means the twins have a little more freedom too because H is focusing on SG instead of them. Happiness all the way around.

Our walks are a little more interesting with 5 instead of 4. We get a lot more looks and a lot more comments from people (some good, some bad). I found myself wanting to say, "They aren't all mine." to some of the people giving me strange, not nice looks. Then again, I've thought about having more and I figured who cares, if I wanted 5 children that doesn't make me a bad person.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Here are the pictures from our walk last Friday. I'm not in them (I couldn't get a shot that worked with me in them), but here is what it looks like from my point of view.

Looking forward

To the right

For good measure to show I have been getting in the pictures too

Linking up the Anderson Crew with Embrace the Camera today.

Scrapping Fun

I've been trying to catch-up on scrapbooking for my boys. It isn't a quick catch-up, but I figure a couple layouts a week is better than none. This one for G took me a few days (4-5) to get done, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Plus, it feel good to finish something.

Added some sparkle glaze to the heart

Background: Pink Paislee
Green circles: Bella Blvd. Studio
Other papers: Cosmo Cricket
Stamps: Bella Blvd. Studio
Star: Dreams Street Papers adhered to chipboard
Black crystals: Zva Creative

Embrace the Camera

Today I decided to take some pictures of my boys in a makeshift studio (my livingroom with a sheet hanging at the entryway). It was fun. They enjoyed running away and I enjoyed chasing them and trying to get a decent picture. I wasn't in the pictures today, but that's okay. I just wanted to document how stinking cute they are!

J on G - G was not amused, but J was

Me and G

H - 3 1/2 yrs. old

G and J -17 mo. - notice they won't smile at the same time

If you want to play along, click the picture.

Crazy-Hectic

Yesterday was a crazy, hectic day. It started with a call from my wonderful husband saying he forgot something at 6:00 a.m. A few minutes later H came in and told me he needed me to get up because he can't get up without me. We got up, he got dressed and started watching t.v. so I could shower. I then got the twins up and got them dressed. My sister-in-law came over to help me with the two children I was going to watch today (S and my nephew S). I drove about 45 min. toward my husband's work (he met me along the way) and gave him what he needed. I then found a restroom for H (he told me on the way he needed to go potty) while my husband watched the twins. Then, we headed back home. I got back at 8:50 a.m.; not too bad given that I left at 7:15 a.m. Thankfully, little S was napping and H was super excited to see nephew S. The boys, all 4 of them, played hard all day. Everyone was ready for a nap around 1:00/1:30 p.m. No problems with anyone (other than normal bickering that sometimes comes when everyone wants the same toy). It was a good day, and I'm glad to be sitting here and typing with only my boys around.

S

H

S

Watching "The Magic School Bus" together

Embrace the Camera

Last Thursday I did a post with the same title. I would have done this yesterday, but blogger wasn't cooperating. It doesn't look like there's a post over at the blog for this idea, so I'm not linking to it. However, you can go to last weeks post with the same name and find the link there. :)

Here are some pictures from yesterday that I truly love!

J reading

G on my back - this happened a lot yesterday with all my boys

J, S, and I - photo by H

H - self portrait

J and G

G - love that smile, even if it does mean mischief is around the corner

J - he was playing with his hair

G - he began snoring and that's when I checked and found this

J - snuggling his pb sandwich and banana

My boys

1. H - He is making so many connections and expresses them in some of the funniest ways. On our Monday walk he looked at me and asked, "Mama, why is S brown?" S is a little girl we watch and she is half black; my children practically glow in the dark. I never even considered that he would notice, but few things escape him. His daddy explained that all people come in different colors. That was all he needed. As my husband I discussed it later my husband said, "Kids notice, but they don't care." So true. If only more of us could be like that.
Tonight we got home around 7:45p from the store. I turned on Wheel of Fortune (waiting for the Biggest Loser) and he asked if I thought we were watching Jeopardy. I explained this was Wheel of Fortune, the letter show and he responded, "No, it's Jeopardy with Allllllex and Vanna White." So funny.

2. G - He is so much more responsive to questions. He nods yes and shakes his head no. He lets us know what he wants in any way possible. He signs "more" and "please." He LOVES to read. Today I watched him give something back to his brother because J got upset when he took it. He likes to swing, but prefers to do so on his own and not my lap. He's independent but cuddly. Food can perk him up and get a smile out of him most of the time. He loves his family. He's still a biter and we're still working on getting him to stop.

3. J - He LOVES pincher bugs. I kid you not, this boy sees one across the patio and is after it. He has to pick it up and play with it, and he will play with it until the poor thing (normally I don't feel this way about them, but in this instance...I have a heart) dies. And yet, he doesn't understand why the bug quits moving, he just wants to play and explore the world. He would rather speak than sign (although his only words are Mama and WOW). He's recently started doing better about signing "please" and will sign "milk." He likes to show you what he wants by taking you there. He loves to swing on my lap. He's daring but shy. Food can perk him up, unless you tell him to say please, then he gets mad. I watched him be kind to his brother today as G wanted something and he gave it to him. He loves his family and laughs when H chases him around the room. He needs to quit bring the pincher bugs into the house when he catches them.

So excited at his catch

This is how he manages to not get pinched

Exploring - notice the open pinchers - usually he uses his finger to touch them and not a rock

Handsome Boys

So, as a mother of boys, I don't get to shop for frilly dresses, hairbands, and shiny shoes. That's okay. I enjoy finding clothes to make my boys as cute as possible. For Easter, my mother bought each of the boys a suit. The twins were too skinny for their pants, so we ended up buying some dark jeans (I couldn't find black slacks in anything below a 2T and we needed 12 mo.). Needless to say, they were more adorable than I could have imagined they would be.

A week or so ago I won a stamp from Bella Blvd. Studio. Much to my surprise, the not only sent me the stamp, but some wonderful product from the Mr. Boy line. I was SUPER excited. Last night I had the chance to sit down and make a layout with their fun products. I haven't used the stamp yet, but I used the paper/chipboard stickers, etc.

I'm editing this to add a picture of another layout I made (same picture and concept) for my mother-in-law. These two layouts are our Mother's Day gifts.

Embrace the Camera

I'm really bad about being in pictures - I usually am the one taking them. As I was reading some of my usual blogs this morning, I came across this thing called Embrace the Camera and I decided I wanted to try and get some pictures of me and the boys.

We take walks daily (sort of...ok, not daily, but I try). I love our walks because they get us out of the house. It's fun to watch the boys point stuff out. The twins still sit in the stroller, but H walks with me and he finds bugs, plants, sticks, whatever. You name it and he thinks it's a reason to stop. In the past this has bothered me, but I'm trying to be better about going with the flow. It may not be super exercise at this pace, but it is great bonding time.

I did some posed pictures with the timer. In the first, the twins weren't sure what was going on. They understood more the second time. The second picture isn't centered, but we're all looking and smiling; that's amazing!

If you decide you want to do this too, click on the link above and join in. Thanks for looking.

Pretzels

I've been blessed with 3 boys who eat pretty much anything. When they decide they don't like a food, I can't complain too much because there are few things they won't eat.

It is because of this, that I find it funny Gideon doesn't like pretzels. He is a fan of almost any food and pretzels are so normal. Yesterday at snack time I had my niece and nephew here along with my own children. I started with some craisins, kiwi, and apple chips, then I moved onto pretzels (they are picky eaters and didn't want any snack other than the pretzels). The twins looked like little beggars standing at the gate waiting for me to hand them whatever, until the pretzels came out. Gideon saw what was in my hand, shook his head no, and walked away.